


"I Forgive You"

by ZuzuSara



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (third book in The Maze Runner trilogy), Angst, Attempted Undertale Genocide Run, Can be platonic or romantic, Chara Possessing Frisk, Crying, Gen, Genocide Sans, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Frisk/Sans, One Shot, Poor Sans, Reference from The Death Cure, Sans Boss Battle, Undertale Genocide Route, whichever you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:49:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZuzuSara/pseuds/ZuzuSara
Summary: When Frisk reaches Judgment Hall in the Genocide Run, they can't bear to fight Sans. Chara has taken complete control of their shared body, but Sans' words give Frisk enough determination for them to be able to conquer Chara temporarily and put an end to all the killing (after something like a reunion with much tears).





	"I Forgive You"

The tap of their boots on the shiny patterned floor. The sparkling yellow light coming through the windows to cast shadows at every angle. Nothing but the end of the hall up ahead- soon to be the end of the run. Or would there ever be an end to this?

“heya.”

As if in the blink of an eye, Sans suddenly appeared a few paces in front of them. His tone held its constant laid-back, almost friendly casualness, but his eyes were glaring and sinister, and there was a hint of tension in the arms stuffed in his hoodie’s pockets. _No, I don’t like Sans looking this way. Especially at me._

“youve been busy, huh?” His otherwise cool voice was laced with judgment and criticism, which was a terribly hurtful mix for Frisk to hear.

“so, ive got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change?”

_Not the one controlling me._

“that everybody can be a good person, if they just try?”

 _Try… Try… Try..._ For some reason, when Sans said that word, it reverberated inside Frisk’s mind, over and over again. And for the first time in quite a while, it filled them with a long-lost but familiar feeling: determination.

 _I have to try to stop this. Now. I am determined to. I can’t stand Sans looking at me like this, and I can’t stand the thought of what might happen if I don’t stop. If I don’t stop_ them _. I can’t._

They- Chara, took a step forward, towards Sans. _No. No, that’s not what I want._

“heh heh heh heh… alright. well heres a better question.” His pupils vanished into the darkness of his eye sockets then. “do you wanna have a bad time?”

_No. No, I don’t. Not you, Sans. Please, not you._

“’cause if you take another step forward…” _I won’t. I will not._

“you are REALLY not going to like what happens next.” He warned.

With a menacing smile, Chara lifted their foot off the ground and-

_No._

And…

_I can’t fight him._

And…

 _I_ won’t _fight him._ _I will not. I will not. I will not I will not I will not I will not I will not._

Chara’s smirk twisted into a snarl as their foot floated in the air, one force urging it forward and another pulling it back. It trembled slightly, and Frisk could see Sans’ expression of confusion at Chara’s ‘hesitation’. Frisk couldn’t keep their will at bay for more than a few seconds though, as they were also determined, and eventually took complete control again.

“ _Stop it.”_ Chara muttered- to themself, it would look like, and then their foot finally stumbled forward. Sans continued watching them, bewildered, looking them up and down and searching their face for an explanation of what just happened, but after a moment, he shrugged it off and cleared his throat.

“welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises.”

They entered the fight.

“it’s a beautiful day outside.” He said much too cheerfully. “birds are singing, flowers are blooming… on days like these, kids like you…” His eyes went entirely black again, and his voice dark and… _angry_. “s h o u l d   b e   b u r n i n g   i n   h e l l.”

_Yes, we should be._

Chara’s malicious grin quickly turned into grunts and cries as they were continuously hit by Sans’ incredibly fast and unpredictable first attack, not giving them enough time to react properly.

They were dead before he even finished.

Chara of course walked right back after materializing at the last save point, Frisk pleading them the whole way to stop and go back. But they were ignored, so they tried to halt their steps again, but that didn’t work either. Chara was still too determined, on top of flustered and frustrated that they had been so easily and quickly killed.

They tried again, and died.

They tried again, and died.

They tried again, and died.

Every time Chara came back to fight Sans, he commented on how they looked mad about dying this or that many times. Frisk missed his sense of humour terribly, it just wasn’t the same going through most of the Underground without his jokes and pranks and puns and trips to eat every now and then. They hadn’t seen him since Snowdin, and while Chara probably didn’t even notice, it was another painful reminder to Frisk of the effects their horrible actions were having.

Chara had gotten used to Sans’ first attack by the second or third try enough to survive it, but as they laughed breathlessly in relief, Frisk was only filled with dread. And when they prepared to swing their knife at Sans, Frisk, in sudden desperation and panic, was able to loosen Chara’s grip on the handle so that it came into contact with the floor instead of Sans. But when Chara’s empty fist flailed forward, Sans wasn’t even there anymore.

“what? you think im just gonna stand there and take it?” He teased, a few feet away from Chara’s target. They growled in annoyance before picking the knife back up off the floor.

“Stop that.” They muttered to Frisk again.

 _No,_ you _stop it._ They thought back.

“Ha. _Never.”_ Chara replied, smiling.

“uh… buddy, who ya talking to, there?” Sans raised a bony brow, amused and slightly perplexed at Chara’s seemingly one-sided conversation.

“ _Shut it, comedian.”_ They hissed at him.

Sans raised his hands up by his head in mock surrender and said casually, “whatever you say, kid.”

And so the battle continued.

They did at least a bit better in the fight with every time they came back from dying, and Frisk constantly tried to minimize that. Although they were relieved and glad when they were occasionally able to indirectly kill Chara by making their body hesitate or go in the wrong direction to some extent, it wasn’t a very good long-term plan for stopping them when they thought about it. But they weren’t thinking; all they could think about was showing Chara that, like them fighting Sans, they wouldn’t give up trying to stop them. They hated seeing themself killing literally everyone they encountered, but it was kind of enjoyable when Chara was the victim. Sans of course thought their visible anger was directed at him, but Frisk could tell with satisfaction that it wasn’t just him causing Chara’s frustration every time they appeared back at the start of Judgment Hall.

Although Frisk was able to slow down Chara’s progress slightly, it was only slightly. Frisk's determination was definitely _there,_ as they were finally making an effort to stop them (and it occasionally paid off), but nothing was further increasing it to make it even close to matching Chara’s. They got further into the fight with every respawn, tiring Sans out just a little bit more with every dodge of Chara’s strikes, but desperation didn’t help Frisk as much as inspiration or motive. And they needed a charge-up of the latter.

What Sans was talking about- the constant possibility of resets making it hard for him to give his all to things, made Frisk’s heart wrench a bit. His laziness wasn’t just _laziness_ , it reflected his feeling of helplessness; his knowledge of the fact that everyone will go back to the beginning with no memory of the past timeline, and he can’t do anything about it.

“all i know is… seeing what comes next… i cant afford not to care anymore.” Then with those words, Frisk’s heart swelled. They had no idea that he was capable of such attacks and the ability to always dodge others’, and yet, he did. When the situation was dire, Sans for once made an effort to make a difference. And Frisk loved him for it.

They loved him so much. They could _not_ kill him. They wouldn’t.

“Sans…” They- _Frisk_ , breathed his name as they stood still during another attack, speaking and staring at him as if he was the most amazing thing in the world, which they were sure he was. Chara was restlessly and frustratingly attempting to win back total control of their shared body, but Frisk stood their ground and matched Sans’ gaze as he stared right back- still angry and sad and ominous, but puzzled. His eyes squinted in concentration, trying to comprehend the compassionate tone of voice and expression on Frisk’s face. Their demeanor looked like it belonged to a completely different person…

Suddenly, Chara threw their body to the ground, out of the way of a previously incoming bone at the last minute. But where they landed happened to be in another bone’s path, and they didn’t have enough time to dodge that one, which hit them hard, making them stumble around and get hurt by a few others before dying again.

They were back at their save point, and Chara internally scolded Frisk for messing their last attempt up.

 _Goddamnit, Frisk! We got so far! Now we have to do it all over again! Ugh. Oh well, at least we_ can.

Frisk didn’t respond, only felt sorry again that Sans wouldn’t remember anything from their fight before their last death, resulting in them having to go through the same attacks and sentences again.

Yeah, thanks to their goddamn _determination,_ Frisk was able to come back after death, and only _they_ would remember everything before then. And only _they_ would remember every single timeline they created, and purged.

But they didn’t want that. It was wrong, and too much for someone of their age to be playing with. Easily proven by the fact that they _chose_ this destructive path in the beginning. They didn’t know what they were getting into, and they would have abandoned the FIGHT option long ago if they could have, but before they knew that it was something like a lost and distorted soul slowly taking control of their body, it just felt like a curious, entertained, and dark impulse pushing them to carry on. But it was Chara. It was always Chara, and they had grown stronger with every kill and eventually entirely eliminated Frisk’s ability to go back, because they had _become_ them.

Frisk lost their determination at some point, probably around Papyrus’ death (which still made them want to cry- if only they could). But it didn’t matter: Chara had their own determination, and so kept pursuing the course that Frisk was responsible for starting, no matter how many times they were dying in this golden hall.

Nothing could stop Chara in the end. They would never give up, and their determination would always bring them back. Even though Frisk had no will to live in this timeline anymore, Chara was the one in control, therefore the save points obeyed their desire to come back and keep going.

Chara’s determination will always bring them back. But…

Frisk didn’t have any. Not to live, anyway.

Their determination would bring them back from death, always.

But only if it was Chara’s _._

 _“Now we have to do it all over again! Ugh. Oh well, at least we_ can.”

Not “we”, Chara. _You._ What happens if _I’m_ in control when he kills us?

Let’s find out.

Thank god Frisk and Chara didn’t share a mind as well, or Frisk wouldn’t be able to take them by surprise and their plan may have not worked. But they _could_ feel each other’s emotions when strong enough, so to take precautions, Frisk tried to give off vibes of helpless and hopelessness to make it seem like that would be the reason for their lack of interfering with this round of Chara’s battle with Sans- not as if they were saving their energy for something bigger later on.

Chara got further into the fight they ever had before (probably because Frisk was so passive the whole time), right up to after where they had left off before dying the last time.

"listen.” Sans started. “i know you didnt answer me before, but…” He blinked slowly, and sighed. “somewhere in there, i can feel it. theres a glimmer of a good person inside of you.”

_Yes! There is, Sans!_

“the memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing.”

_I still do! I will!_

“someone who, in another time, might have even been… a friend?” There was genuine hope in his tone and eyes, and in turn, it sparked Frisk with exactly what they needed to end all this: determination.

“c’mon, buddy. do you remember me?” There was so much sorrow in his voice, and Frisk felt it too, as they had throughout the whole run. They thought of the time when they were _,_ indeed, friends: Sans shaking their hand with a whoopie cushion, Sans trying to sell overpriced fried snow to them when he didn’t even have any, Sans giving them his food from Grillby’s when theirs got covered in ketchup, Sans stacking hotdogs on their head, Sans having them use a telescope that painted their eye red, going for more food, his admiration and protection of his brother, more food, his constant puns, more food…

Frisk’s memories of the good times they shared together were filling them with enough determination to be able to speak their own words now. “Yes. _Yes,_ I remember.” Sans’ face was confused again, but also wistful and hopeful, regarding them intently.

“who _are_ you?” He asked, taking a step closer.

“I was- I’m… a friend. I’m _your_ friend.” Frisk smiled with tears in their eyes, but Chara still had some influence, as they spoke too: “No- no, die!” And Frisk took an involuntary step towards Sans, expression dark. He stepped back and away from them, cautious and guarded with his eye glowing blue, and Frisk mustered up more strength from their determination to conquer Chara completely, rambling desperately so that their thoughts and emotions would provide them with even more power.

“I can’t kill him. I won’t. I won’t let you- _Die_! No. No, I won’t. I love him- _There’s only one type of ‘love’ in you_. No, no there isn’t. We were friends, I loved him. I still do. I love him. I love him and you won’t kill him. You _will not.”_ Frisk was too focused on overpowering Chara to see Sans’ reaction to them ‘talking to themself’, but they imagined it must've been pretty amused and dumbfounded.

“He will _not die._ You won’t- _Kill him!_ No, I will not.” And with one final surge of determination and _real_ love, Frisk finally drove Chara down into the depths of their soul, eyes shut tight and entire body trembling slightly.

“He won’t die. _We will.”_ Frisk could hear Chara’s (no longer vocal) distressed and enraged shouts of curses at Frisk as they were rendered powerless. Totally, utterly, _powerless._

In an exhausted daze, Frisk let the knife fall to clatter loudly on the floor in the sudden silence and dropped to their knees. Bangs in their eyes, breathing heavily, heart beating wildly, Frisk picked their hands up off the ground and turned them over and around, brushed and squeezed them, wiggled the fingers… and started laughing at their accomplishment, in disbelief, relief, and amazement.

 _I did it. I actually did it._ They continued laughing ecstatically as they stood up and flipped some hair out of their face. Such simple actions: standing up and brushing hair out of your eyes, but Frisk hadn’t had complete control over their body in a _very_ long time. This felt amazing. _They_ were in control. They were _free._

Not forever though, of course.

Sans was staring at them with a look of contemplation, wonder, and confusion… but still suspicious of Frisk. Well, he would mean to be suspicious of Chara, but he didn’t exactly know there were two of them, that happened to be _very_ different from each other.

“Sans…” Frisk sighed, mouth shakily smiling with glistening eyes, and began to rush forward with arms outstretched, as if to hug him. They needed to feel the reassurance he always seemed to give off when they embraced as friends.

But that was when they were friends. Now, Frisk was known as a despicable and notorious killer, since Sans retreated back and readied a gaster blaster next to him- a silent warning not to come any closer. Frisk’s heart wrenched: this wasn’t what their relationship was supposed to be- he was supposed to welcome them with open arms. This felt so wrong- Sans threatening them should they continue forward. However, it wasn’t much of a threat, as it was the plan anyway.

Lowering their arms to their sides and blinking rapidly to keep their tears at bay, Frisk tipped their chin up and said, “Do it.”

Sans didn’t seem to trust anything Frisk did or said- for good reason- as he only asked, “why?”

“Doesn’t matter. All that matters is you do it _now._ ” Frisk replied.

“no, it _does_ matter. i want answers: why now? and what was up with that little performance back there? why do you even _want_ me to kill you? and wouldnt you come back anyway? you have a lot of explaining to do, kid.” The gaster blaster dissipated with a few trails of smoky blue magic and Sans stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking as if he was waiting for something.

 _Waiting for answers_ , Frisk assumed.

They sighed. “What happened back there was… was Ch- there’s two of us. Two… _people_ in this body.”

Sans was still apprehensive and skeptical. “how is that?” He asked.

“I- it _was_ just me, in the beginning. But, with every kill…” Frisk cringed at the word, then jumped a bit as Sans interrupted harshly.

“so it _was_ your choice to kill-“

“No! I mean, at the start, it was. I-“ Frisk swallowed around the lump in their throat and blinked a few times before continuing. “I… I’ve abused my power, Sans. I reset, with the _intention_ of taking this kind of path- killing everything, but…”

“why, kid?” Sans’ questioned, not understanding what could make them choose to be so destructive if they obviously didn’t like it.

No, they would not cry. They had to explain everything to him. He deserved that. “I… I guess I was just curious. I thought, ‘why not try anything?’ since I could just reset it all anyway. But I- I couldn’t do it. It was too heartbreaking. After Toriel-“

“whos toriel?” Sans interjected.

“She’s- she was your knock knock-joke friend and que-“

“howd you know i have- or... _had_ a friend like that?” He demanded, somber realization dawning over his features.

“I reset, remember? We’re- we were friends, back then. I was friends with _everyone._ Everyone that I’ve _killed._ She- Toriel _took care of me._ And I just-“ Frisk’s voice cracked, and so they drew in a shaky breath and swiftly wiped a single tear away that had slipped out. “I didn’t want to keep going that way- killing everything whether or not they wanted to fight, I would’ve reset again, but they- _something_ , it seemed like, was urging me not to. At the time, I thought it was just a curious, creepy, evil impulse pushing me on, but it was _them_. It was _Chara.”_ At the mention of their name, Frisk could feel Chara try to claw their way back to control, but they were too far down and Frisk effortlessly pushed them back.

“chara. chara… why does that name sound familiar?” Sans wondered absentmindedly. He had been listening attentively to Frisk’s confessions and reasoning, and it looked like he was slightly less guarded, as if he was starting to trust them.

 _Okay, I’m making progress._ Frisk thought. Well, they weren’t _really_ making progress; that would mean getting killed, not forgiven by Sans (although they doubted he would ever do that anyway). But, even after all this time, Frisk still wanted him to think good of them. Plus, he wanted answers, and it was fair to give them to him.

“I don’t know, but they were what fooled me into thinking I should continue with this genocidal route, so I did.” Frisk took a breath. “But it wasn’t really me, entirely. That feeling eventually became a voice, which soon after became a _being_ , and by then, it was too late. Chara had taken over my body- they were in total control of every action I took.”

The two of them were silent for a moment, looking down at each other’s feet. Then Sans spoke softly: “you knew about toriel. tell me more things you would know as a... friend.”

Frisk looked up, and Sans steadily matched their gaze calmly and… hopefully? Frisk would’ve smiled at listing facts off that they had learned about their friends, but it only reminded them of all the hurt and pain they had inflicted in this timeline instead. “You really like ketchup and you anonymously send jokes to Papyrus over social media, Papyrus’ favourite books are Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds and Peek-a-Boo with Fluffy Bunny and he takes cooking lessons from Undyne, Undyne used to challenge everybody to fights when she was younger and she has a crush on Alphys, Alphys has a crush on Undyne and her favourite anime is Mew Mew Kissy Cutie-“

“okay, okay that’s uh… fine.” Sans cut Frisk off, and they let a small laugh out awkwardly. They weren’t even close to joking with Sans like they used to, but in that moment, the air between them felt comfortable and sort of friendly. _Oh. I missed this._ They thought nostalgically.

“who killed my brother, then?” He asked with darkened eye sockets bitterly, but looking down and off to the side, still feeling the heartache of it.

Frisk flinched at the direct mention of Papyrus’ death. They remembered their mind and internal voice sobbing and screaming, begging and demanding Chara to stop, despite Frisk knowing it was useless. He had still believed in them, even with his decapitated head in the snow, and he had said they could do better. Chara for sure wouldn’t.

But Frisk would. They would make him proud.

With blurred vision, Frisk answered Sans honestly. “I couldn’t stop them. I was crying on the inside the whole time, wanting to _die_ \- seeing my hands do that to him. I pleaded and commanded them to drop their weapon but they wouldn’t listen and I wasn’t strong enough to-“ Frisk couldn’t hold their tears in anymore. They choked out apologies to Sans in between cries, rambling and restlessly wiping the back of their sleeve across their face just because it was something to do, no matter that the tears just kept coming. “I’m so sorry… He didn’t deserve it… It’s all my fault… I started this whole thing… I let Chara in… I should’ve tried harder… Why couldn’t I stop them? I should’ve tried harder! I killed your brother! I killed Papyrus! What’s wrong with me why didn’t I try harder why did I start all this anyway…” They sobbed for killing their friend among many others and not being able to stop it, they sobbed for hurting Sans, they sobbed for starting this all, they sobbed for not ignoring the evil desire to go on and just stop and reset instead… They sobbed for everything they were responsible for.

With a few final sniffles and wipes under their eyes, Frisk looked back up at Sans, swearing they saw him hastily wiping the cuff of his sweater around his eyes too. Their mouth had stopped trembling enough so that they could properly finish their thought with stuttering breaths and eyelashes dark and clumped with tears. “I’m so sorry, Sans. If I never listened to Chara’s influence, this never would have happened. And _I_ brought them _to me_ , by beginning this timeline like I did. I swear, I would’ve quit it all a long time ago, but I just couldn’t. Chara took control before- before Papyrus, and they were too strong for me. I’m sorry. This is all my fault, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I’m so sorry.” They wiped their eyes again and inhaled unsteadily.

“kid, you-“ Sans cleared his throat. “but youre in control now. how come it worked at this point?” He asked, with surprisingly no hint of anger.

“Well, you- I guess you made me want to try…” Frisk couldn’t tell if their cheeks felt a bit warm, so they simply kept talking. “…Your uh… everything you said and your sense of humour and how you put so much effort into fighting despite usually being a lazybones… it just… I remembered and missed us, and I felt so much admiration for you.” Frisk gave a small smile, and was pleased to see Sans doing the same. After a tender, distracted moment, they hurriedly finished their explanation. “And you uh… gave me determination to take back control.” Frisk then sighed at what they were going to tell him next, not in sadness or reluctance, but preparation. “And that’s why you need to kill me.” Suddenly, they heard Chara ask them in their head: _What are you doing?_ And when Frisk didn’t answer, they could feel Chara’s desire and attempt to win back some control while they questioned Frisk nervously again. Frisk only pushed them back down, but it didn’t seem like they would be so easily kept under anymore; they could still feel Chara’s presence and agitation- no longer ‘dormant’ like they seemed to be earlier. They weren’t bound to have a lot of time now that Chara had come to and would soon realize what was going to happen.

Sans was confused again, as well as… taken aback, it looked like. “huh? but wont you come back?”

“No, I won’t.”

_What? Why not?_

“why not?”

“Determination is what brings me back from death, right? As long as I _want_ to come back, I will. But I _don’t_ want to. And so once I die, that’s it. It’ll all be over.”

 _No…_ Chara hissed inside Frisk’s head as they attempting to gain control again, and it took a bit more effort for Frisk to push them back down.

“but… you said i made you determined earlier, arent you still?” Sans asked.

“Yeah, determined to conquer Chara- _ngh-_ and… _keep_ them conquered. Not determined to live, though.” Frisk explained while fighting to keep Chara’s influence deep, deep down. They couldn’t risk letting them have the slightest control when they died- their determination might still register and they could come back.

“is that what youre doing right now? trying to keep them down?” Sans watched them with a concerned expression.

“Yeah. Now _please,_ Sans, kill me while I can still keep them from having even the smallest bit of control.” Frisk pleaded him desperately with slightly heavy breaths.

“how do you even know itll work?” _Why can’t he just do it already? We don’t have all the time in the world!_ Frisk thought, frustrated.

“I don’t. Only one way to find out, right?” They laughed shakily, but Sans only regarded them solemnly and… hesitantly?

“but, kid… youre not the bad one here.” _My god, is he_ trying _to draw this out?_

“Yes I am, Sans. Maybe I didn’t _want_ to kill people, but I’m still responsible for it all. I abused my ability to reset and fed Chara’s power with every execution point. If you don’t do this, Chara will come back. They’ll kill you, they’ll kill Asgore, they’ll kill _everyone._ _Yes, I will._ No!” Chara had been able to speak through Frisk’s mouth. They quickly shut their eyes and balled their fists as they focused all their determination into pushing them down as far as possible, Chara’s curses and complaints only encouraging them further.

When Chara was silent once again (still present, though), Frisk looked up and said sadly, “I’m so sorry, Sans. I ruined everything, but I know how to fix it.” They splayed their hands out by their sides, fixing him with a determined stare. “Please, Sans. Just kill me.”

“i cant, not like this…” Sans replied, eyes and voice sorrowful.

Chara was trying to climb up again, so Frisk pushed them down as they picked their knife off the ground. They walked closer to Sans and held it out to him, handle facing him, but all he did was shake his head. It looked like it was because he didn’t want to go through with it, not in disagreement- he wasn’t stupid, he must have known it was the right thing to do. After everything, did he really not want to kill Frisk?

It didn’t matter what he wanted. This had to be done. Frisk walked forward so that they stood even closer to Sans, then, knowing he was left-handed, took that skeletal hand out of its pocket and wrapped it around the knife’s handle, placing their two soft hands over his bony one. “Kill me.” They repeated, desperately trying to communicate through their eyes how urgent it was that he did this. And that he did it _soon_ since Chara wasn’t giving up trying to take control again, as they would never give up killing.

He looked desperate too, actually. “maybe we can-“

“No Sans, there’s no other way. Now do it.” Chara’s persistent and forceful will to crawl up from the depths of their shared body was tiring Frisk out and making them impatient and frustrated, on top of guilty and remorseful for hurting Sans again. First his brother being murdered, now, having to kill a friend.

Frisk moved the blade to their torso, looking a couple inches up at Sans with slightly blurred vision. “i cant.” He practically whispered. “Do it!” Frisk raised their voice, too stressed and panicked by Chara’s unrelenting perseverance to mind that they and Sans were only about a foot away from each other.

They pushed the tip of the knife against their chest, and Sans cried back, “i cant!”

“Kill me or I’ll kill you! Kill me! Do it!” Frisk shouted through the tears they barely noticed trickling down their face, tightening their grip on Sans’ hand, over the handle of Chara’s weapon.

“kid…” Sans hummed regretfully.

“Do it before I turn back!” They wouldn’t be able to keep Chara down for much longer. _Please, Sans, just do it!_

“i…”

“KILL ME!”

Frisk choked on a sob as Sans abruptly enveloped them in his arms tightly. The comfort and reassurance of his embrace prompted more tears and shaky breaths, the familiarity and how much they missed this making it feel like they were both happy and terribly upset at the same time. But they also felt… determination. Enough so that they could, to a significant extent, push Chara back down again.

Frisk let themself enjoy the moment for a bit, likely to be their last. They could smell ketchup on Sans’ hoodie and feel his right hand petting their hair soothingly, like he always did when they were upset. His other hand… it felt like it was a fist; he must have been holding the knife parallel to Frisk’s back while he hugged them. _It’ll be over soon… all this killing will be over._ Frisk thought, almost totally drained of energy, but content.

But Chara was still climbing, desperately and determinedly.

Frisk’s body had stopped trembling at some point, but it felt like something else still was… Sans. Their heart wrenched for him again at being reminded of how much pain he will have gone through in this timeline- how much he endured from _every_ timeline; knowing of their existence but unable to do anything about it.

“Please Sans, please.” Frisk’s voice muffled, but was still comprehensible against the dirty, soft, warm fabric on Sans’ shoulder. They were running out of determination to prevent Chara from taking a sliver of control back, and they needed to die before that happened.

Frisk didn’t feel Sans’ hand on their back anymore, and didn’t remember when he had taken it off. That was fine though, this was supposed to happen, and they were glad it would.

“hey, kiddo…” Sans’ casual words were wrecked by the unevenness of his voice, but then he turned his head a bit to whisper in Frisk’s ear, “ _i forgive you_.”

Hearing those words gave Frisk more than enough determination to push Chara all the way back down, hearing their infuriated and despaired scream at not being able to do a single thing about the knife that momentarily stabbed the left side of their back, likely piercing their heart.

Frisk clutched Sans’ sweater and smiled, tasting blood. He was still shaking, but kept the knife firmly placed as he continued to stroke their hair gently. Chara was silent, and Frisk’s eyelids drooped.

 _This is a nice way to die…_ Frisk’s last thought was.

 

~

 

Sans kept his embrace of the kid after their grip on him had loosened and their body no longer supported itself. And that was when it disappeared, like every other death- simply blinking out of existence. Sans was left standing with his arms wrapped around nothing but air and tears streaked over his cheekbones. In his depressed stupor, he accidentally dropped the knife as he lowered his arms, the metallic clang in the lonely quiet hall startling and irritating him. In sudden rage and anguish, he growled while picking the bloody weapon back up, and threw it with all his might against one of the walls with an intense and resounding shout, eye flaming blue. It clattered to the floor once again, and Sans followed suit after a minute or so of staring at it angrily with heavy breaths, more tears burning behind his eye sockets and a lump growing in his throat.

Dropping heavily to the floor, he finally allowed himself to weep. He wept for Papyrus, for what Chara did to that kid, and for what he had had to do to them. He knew it was necessary, and of course he was relieved that this whole ordeal was over, but in that moment, all he could feel was agony.

**Author's Note:**

> *Near the end where Frisk is repeatedly telling Sans to kill them and he keeps refusing, almost all that dialogue was copied from pages 249-250 of The Death Cure, the third installment of the Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner (an amazing series btw, y'all should go read it).  
> Also I was inspired a bit by listening to Frisk's version of Stronger Than You (parody made from Steven Universe's original), a rly good, sweet and sad song with accompanying art:3 Link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ3z6oxNheo&list=LL7xuU5u1AoGtDIUVlJCdt8w&index=16  
> Anyways hope y'all enjoyed! Constructive criticism welcome!


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